Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

Good morning all.

Grey and wet outside. Forecast said sleet but, unless it did that in the night, it hasn't sleeted. Another non gardening day.

@Liriodendron I use a microfibre cloth with washing up liquid in warm water, then dry with a dry microfibre cloth.

BBC weather says there should be sunny periods when @Ante1 arrives here. I must look again for London as that's Norfolk.

 

London, cloudy 9C on the 2nd. Sunny periods on the 4th.

 

Hello everyone. It's cloudy here with teeny blue bits and the su trying to break thru. Feels warm at 8C but this pm we're due some heavy rain - good timing as we'll be out shopping for a new TV and a PC for me.

Physio this morning then home via the bank for some cash as I'm off to a fabric and threads fair tomorrow - Fils Croisés at Cholet. Still haven't found a jumper I like so I might just treat myself to some batik fabric instead.

@Liriodendron I clean windscreens (and windows) with a bit of washing up liquid and vinegar in hot water then dry with a linen tea towel. Car screens still get misty when the outside temperatures dictate and there's moisture in the air but soon clears with a blast from the heater, even when the engine's still cold.

Enjoy your new shower @Tui34. I love ours. Much better than a bath!

Hope breakfast was good @Ladybird4.

Nearly lunchtime here then skirting boards and playing with my fancy mitre saw before shopping.

Be safe and well.

 

Good afternoon all.

Well the weather forecast for here is becoming somewhat monotonous as it’s yet again cold, damp and grey. I had intended potting up the tete a tete daffs I bought yesterday into a larger pot for outdoors, but I think they can wait a while as this raw cold just eats into my bones and makes my finger ends go white.

I hope your breakfast was good @Ladybird4.

 

Another busy morning, with old dog to vet for check up (all good for her age), then shopping for dog food and a trip to the tip. It was a wasted one, as it was closed; we both forgot about the new hours!
We are now under an amber warning for Eowyn. Calm before the storm now. Hope @Liriodendron and @Badly_Maintained and all in Ireland stay safe. And all in its path.

 

Thanks for the windscreen cleaning hints, @Busy-Lizzie and @Obelix-Vendée . I shall try giving it a further rub on the inside with an old linen teatowel, as I've already had a go with a microfibre cloth after looking on the Internet for ideas. Something's got to work... I'm pretty sure it's clean now, at any rate, just a little smeary.

We have a red warning for extreme wind from 3am to 10am on Friday. It's storm Eowyn, approaching from the south west. Hopefully its strength will have diminished by the time it reaches the UK...

 

Crossed posts with yours, @Penny_Forthem . Thank you - I think we'll be ok, and @Badly_Maintained isn't in the red area, I think (and hope!). Thinking of you too!

 

You reminded me to clean my car windows. The whole car is filthy from salt and dust but the windows are clean! I use a drop or two of neat washing up liquid on a cloth and wipe over, then use a damp cloth to wipe, then buff with a microfibre. Gleaming! I don’t find the vinegar much good, plus I hate the smell.

 

Just eaten lunch at the Donkey Sanctuary, the sun is out and we have a sea view! Shared a BLT with OH, and I’ve also eaten a pot of battered cauliflower with peach chutney. I’m finding those strangely addictive. OH reckons they might be nearly his worst nightmare, so he had a portion of chips, but I did notice him dipping them in the peach chutney!
This is our reward for a busy morning. He has fitted a new spotlight and a ceiling light in the en suite bathroom. With the painting he has done so far in there, it’s now looking very bright and fresh. The little peace lily I bought earlier in the week has somehow found its way in there! I’m amazed at the massive impact even such a small plant has made. I wonder if I have room for it to have a friend join it? One tiny pot has elevated the vibe from clinical to inviting.
I’m so impressed at your skills with the skirting boards, @Obelix-Vendée! That task is strictly delegated to OH, as he has deemed that as ‘difficult’. To be honest, a lot of the problems are down to our lack of vertical or straight walls, but I’ll be very happy when all the boards are firmly fixed. Luckily he is in charge of vacuuming, I’d be driven mad by the number of times a careless knock has revealed that some of the boards have just been ‘temporarily’ propped against the wall. For years! I’m no saint though. Have discovered pins rusting in the hems of curtains that I haven’t yet got round to hemming!

 

Not much skill needed @Ergates. The previous owners changed the layout upstairs and installed plasterboard throughout - including hiding the old stone walls which would be prettier but less practical and clean. That means I'm working with right angles and just have to cut to length, glue them on and touch up when dry.

The husband finally had enough of it all and scarpered leaving her with 3 kids and unfinished rooms, including 3 bedrooms without skirtings and I've just done the last one. Not complaining as we did get it cheap. Still have door frames/surrounds to do but that can wait till I decorate the landing, stairs and hall.

I haven't done rusty pins yet but I did get pranged by one I'd missed in the waistband of a skirt I was wearing. Ouch.

It is persisting down now. Lovely. Strong winds this weekend but should be fine tomorrow. Fingers crossed as I believe my passenger tomorrow may be the nervous kind.

Good luck to everyone in the path of a storm and/or heavy rain.

 

Good afternoon to all. Just came from cottage. No major damage from last storm and wind, but up there is so tick fog and I couldn't do anything.
Dear @Busy-Lizzie, thank you for the forecast for my visit, I appreciate that. @Tui34, I'll not bombard you every day with pictures, but will make daily report and put everything in one post when I come back.

 

Quiet day here and we don’t see to have done anything. We did do one of our regular walks around the city centre canals this morning and had a leisurely coffee. Other than that just a bit of pottering. The sun finally made an appearance later this afternoon but it’s quite chilly.

I did do a brief tour of inspection around the garden. Lots of snowdrops beginning to appear but otherwise all very quiet. It’s too early to start clearing away the old fallen growth from last year and I wasn’t in the mood for pruning roses today.I do want to make some new hazel supports but, again, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. I’m not sure I have enough whippy growth for the woven elements as I used quite a bit last summer to create some screening (threaded though some of our trellis fence panels). I think we are supposed to have a sunny day on Saturday so that might inspire me to get cracking

 

I decided to make sausage casserole with plenty of veg. Prepped onions, carrots, leek, celery - but where were the sausages? Still on the shelf at Tesco, because someone (surely not me?) had forgotten to add them to Monday's order.
So we went to Diddle le dee (I always think of @AuntyRach when I write that!) and got enough stuff to last us till at least Sunday.
Sausage casserole it is, with celeriac and cauliflower mash.
I'm envious of @Ante1's forthcoming trip. It's coming up to 6 years since we did our last city break to Bordeaux. Covid and the big C (my lubberly hub, now pronounced clear) put paid to more. But... I'm about to renew my passport!
Glad you enjoyed the beautiful Anglesey @Butterfly6

 

Hello everybody, it started out thick fog but then the sun appeared later which was lovely.
I was ready to call the surgery at 8 am but at 8.01, I was 21st in the queue! However our surgery operate a call back system which preserves your turn and I was able to organise a telephone consultation this afternoon which has just happened. The GP told me that it's Polymyalgia season, he's dealt with 3 or 4 cases this week - news to me though. Said it would better when it gets warmer in a month or so. I can manage my meds (within reason) as I think fit if symptoms come back. There is no cure however and flare ups are likely which is a bit of a bummer.

Snap @Ergates, OH took me out this morning to our local GC for retail therapy and we indulged in their special offer of a Breakfast Bap at half price and a coffee. Really yummy but difficult to eat a runny fried egg in a bun delicately! I was very pleased to get the three Carex Oshimensis 'Everest' I had been looking (it's a white/green variation instead of the usual gold/green one) at half price. We also bought a manual lawn aerator for OH and a half price thermal beanie hat for me which is very unflattering but warm.
My new Felco secateurs were delivered at lunchtime and the weather was good enough to prune roses but I had to sit by the phone all afternoon waiting for the GP to call. The forecast is for rain the next two days. Oh well, they'll get done eventually.

 

Afternoon all. I’ve been to Diddly-Dee too! Bought their Multivitamins with minerals as much cheaper than my usual ones so worth a go. Bought some ingredients to make Banana Bread (with chocolate chips and peanut butter pieces) for work, and also doing a ‘school cake’ for home (vanilla sponge with thin icing and sprinkles). Whilst oven is on - jacket potatoes for tea.

The GP telephone queuing thing has crept to ‘normal’ hasn’t it? It’s not on really. Some people are very unwell or upset or frail and it’s just not fair.

Enjoy the evening everyone. Bad weather on the way tomorrow evening for most of us in U.K.